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Opinion

Here are a few thoughts about our child's and our own experiences at Mountain Elementary School: In our opinion, Mike Katko has been the best principal in a long time at Mountain Elementary School. We have lived right next the school for about 10 years, and our boy attended there from K-6 grades.

I couldn't help but notice the front page picture (Monitor, April 16) of bicyclists riding three abreast on the Jemez Bypass road. Isn't that against the law? And dangerous? Especially with the Jeep shown in the picture approaching from behind. And why does the caption seem to condone it!

I would like to let the community know about a little café in town. It is only held the fourth Thursday of the month at the White Rock Baptist Church. It is a place that anyone dealing with dementia along with their families or caregivers can come have fun and relax together.

The theme, "No Stigma" "No Explanations" "No Charge" "Just have Fun," is something that anyone dealing with Alzheimer's or any other form of dementia can understand!

During the recently completed legislative session, one of the issues that bubbled below the surface was the state’s generous subsidy programs that are designed to attract moviemakers to set up shop in New Mexico.

New Mexico’s film subsidies – the primary components of which are a 25 percent subsidy for film producers doing business in New Mexico and up to $15 million in interest-free loans – have resulted in some big-budget films being made in the state.

In recent years the ability of computers has grown dramatically. Many are predicting that machines (computers) will soon be smarter than people. How realistic is this?

If it is a realistic possibility how soon might it happen?

Smart is a poorly defined term in this context, so let’s start with some clarification. For humans the concept of IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is well established and numerous kinds of IQ tests have been devised and used.

SANTA FE -- Recently this column mentioned that Lincoln County seems to have the strangest goings-on of any place in the state. In that column, we talked about their fandangos, which were quite the rage a century ago.

In fact, fandangos got to be so wild that the state Legislature banned them. To our knowledge, that law has never been repealed but the town of Lincoln, where many fandangos once occurred, has reinstated them, although on a somewhat tamer scale.

Regarding the article by Carol Clark on Roger Brooks’ community presentation: I disagree that local businesses should entertain the idea of opening later, although they may find it profitable to stay open later. For those of us who spent our career arriving at work early, it is difficult to break such an ingrained habit. If I need something, I do not enjoy the choice of going to Española or Santa Fe and returning, before the local merchants open..

After a visit from the new apostle of environmentalism, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Los Alamos is coming to the end of an interlude of environmental celebrations and events. Now may be as good a time as any to think seriously about how the laboratory is positioned for the country’s revived love affair with the planet earth.

Oddly enough, the case could be made that decades from now Los Alamos National Laboratory will be as well known as a bastion of environmental knowledge and practice as it is both famous and notorious as the birthplace of the atomic bomb.

Ruby K’s should get kudos for listening to Roger Brooks who told our community that we need to make some changes.

One of those was putting some color here – and if you happen to have gone by their restaurant (or take a look on page one) you’d see the color they added.

Many of the points Brooks made are on the mark. Years ago when Wal-Mart moved into another state community, another such business guru thanked all the merchants that were open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. for supporting all of the unemployed people in town.

Back in 2003 and 2004, the United States shipped a little spending cash over to the Iraqi government to help “stimulate the economy.” Our C-130 transport planes carried over 360 tons of $100 bills.

Yeah, you read that correctly ... hundreds of pallets containing over $10 billion thrown at a problem simply because the military said it was necessary to fight their war on terror. Billions of dollars with absolutely no accountability, no insight, no foresight, and no oversight.

A long eight years ago, in Washington, D.C., notice was taken of a budget surplus that had arisen. The surplus was quickly eliminated by giving tax cuts to people who didn’t need them. We then launched two wars, one right and one wrong but both expensive, so that we reestablished the usual deficit.

In 1949 a group of very courageous people, believing in the future and a future that they hoped would long outlive them, built a town in probably the worst possible location for any town. It took them 20 years to do it, but they left a legacy and a heritage to be cherished and added upon. Now, we celebrate 60 years of Los Alamos and I find it strange indeed that we do so not by adding to the legacy but by policies and devices that would destroy it and remake it to be something wholly different and unrecognizable from what was created.

The most common disease that will afflict almost every one of our pets is dental disease. Fortunately, it is one of the most preventable.

The many forms of the disease lead to infections and/or inflammation in the mouth which cause pain and can lead to problems in other organ systems such as the liver and kidney.

Since kidney failure is one of the leading causes of death in cats, anything that will minimize the progression of kidney damage in our feline friends will add considerable time and quality to their lives.